When Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon premieres on HBO Max on August 21, viewers will once again meet the Targaryen family. However, this will be a very different group of Targaryens than the two (technically three) members we saw in Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones fans know Daenerys and Rhaegar Targaryen (we’re leaving the third member out of this discussion), when the family was at its lowest point. “The Mad King” Aerys had been killed by Jaime Lannister, and the Targaryens were hunted down with Rhaegar and Elia killed, along with their children Rhaenry and Aegon. So what are the Targaryens like in House of the Dragon?
“They’re at the pinnacle of their power,” Graham McTavish, who plays Ser Harrold Westerling, told GameSpot. “We’ve never seen the Targaryens like this before.” It is much more about the life of the Targaryen family, who rule from the Iron Throne in King’s Landing.
Taking place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will see King Viserys Targaryen as king of Westeros. “Viserys is different,” explains Paddy Considine, who plays the king. “He is certainly not someone who is driven or corrupted by power. He is a very honorable king. He is fulfilling a prophecy that will come true later in the story. He is not your typical Targaryen in the way that he is quick to draw his sword.” . He is a king in peacetime, and that is his job.”
While the man in charge is all about peace and honor, not everyone around him is the same, as Matt Smith, who plays Prince Daemon Targaryen, explains. “He’s kind of an agent of chaos really, but there’s a kind of weird element of peace in him somewhere that he’s looking for but hasn’t quite found. I think, strangely, chaos brings him peace. He is after something ‘other’. I don’t think he knows what it is yet.”
In the video above, you can see more of the cast and co-showrunner Ryan J. Condal talking about the Targaryens in House of the Dragon. As Eve Best, who plays Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, explains, there are a lot of Targaryens on this show and they’re at the height of their power, just like the Roman Empire, just before its fall.
House of the Dragon airs on HBO and HBO Max on August 21, with new episodes arriving weekly on Sundays.
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